


writing letters to a stranger (is it you?)

by yallbitter



Series: Words on paper skin [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, POV Zuko (Avatar), Writing on Skin, but read the other one if u want, can be read as a standalone, sequel(sort of)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:41:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25896112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yallbitter/pseuds/yallbitter
Summary: I made a version of this from Sokka's perspective, and I wanted to do one from Zuko's as well! It can be read as a standalone so don't worry.Soulmates can see what is written on each others skin. Zuko isn't supposed to have a soulmate at all, let alone talk to them. Here's 5 times he responded, and 1 time he didn't have to.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Words on paper skin [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2028257
Comments: 11
Kudos: 412





	writing letters to a stranger (is it you?)

**Author's Note:**

> A kind of sequel to my previous work "is it you? (writing letters to a stranger)"  
> You don't have to read it for this to make sense, it's just an add on really.  
> Enjoy!

Zuko didn’t know why he even bothered to write. His Father had told him that soulmates made people weak, that you didn’t need one.

Zuko wanted to believe him, but the idea kept pestering him until he couldn’t take it anymore. He waited until the whole palace was asleep, and then got a brush, writing in small quick strokes on his arm.

_Hello_

He wanted a response, but when he saw the message appear, he panicked, spilling ink on his sleeping clothes. His heart pounded as he imagined what would happen to him if he was found out, and he did his best to wash away the writing.

As time went on, more and more notes appeared, sometimes conversation, sometimes drawings, always dangerous, always a reminder of what might happen to him if he got caught.

* * *

For 2 years, Zuko wears long sleeves whenever he can, and avoids being seen with arms uncovered by anyone. For 2 years, he manages to avoid being caught. And then Azula saw him meditating one morning, saw the notes scribbled on his arm. She’d come down and threatened him, told him she’d tell Father, and oh poor Zuzu, whatever would Father do if he saw those? Nothing good, I imagine…

She’d given him a brush, and a choice.

“Tell her not to write you anymore, or I burn the sleeves off every shirt you own right before you meet with Father next.”

Trembling, Zuko took the pen and wrote the note, fast and scribbled, a blue flame flickering next to his head as a light source.

_Stop writing to me. I can’t cover them all the time. Please._

Azula laughs at the tear that falls down his cheek, and strides away.

“Remember my promise, Zuzu!”

Zuko clenches his fist and tries to pretend that saying goodbye didn’t hurt as much as it did.

* * *

He’s gotten used to having nothing on his arms. He hadn’t expected his soulmate to actually listen to his request. But for a long time, he had nothing, until one day, sitting in his cabin, quite literally fuming, a note twists into shape on his arm.

_Hello. It’s been a while._

Zuko doesn’t want to reply, doesn’t want to give them false hope that they have someone worthwhile on the other end, because what can a disgraced, disfigured, useless person like him offer someone? But another part of him begs him to give it a chance, to scratch the itch while nobody was watching. So he does, in one of his small, secret, rebellions.

_I know._

The answer Zuko gave seemed to have sparked something, because the other person writes frantically after that. Zuko doesn't respond to these. It's scary, and overwhelming, and when Iroh walks in and sees them his eyes widen.

"Prince Zuko! You are speaking to your soulmate? Do you know who he is?"

"He? What do you mean he? What's that supposed to mean?"

Iroh backtracks, takes back his question, but when he leaves the room he sighs, full of sadness for his nephew, and rage at his brother for ruining such a wonderful young man.

* * *

The events at the North Pole leave Zuko exhausted and hurting. It was a crushing loss, and he nearly died multiple times. And, once again, he’d lost the Avatar. It was almost too much to bear, and Zuko breaks down in Iroh’s arms.

He holds onto his uncle and cries. He tells him that he knows his soulmate is a boy, because how can it be anything else? He tells him that he feels worthless, that whoever was on the other end deserved better than him, a failure, a disgrace. Iroh holds his nephew tightly, and when the message appears, prompts him to write back.

“Do it, Prince Zuko. It will help you to have someone who listens.”

_I thought I’d found you, at last. But I was wrong._

_I’m sorry._

Zuko responds, but he’s not sure what he’s apologising for. Is it one thing? Is it everything?

He doesn’t know, not really, but he wrote it nonetheless.

* * *

Ba Sing Se is so different to what he’s used to. People here display soul messages proudly, and not having any makes you stand out.

So when the mystery boy writes him more now, he doesn’t say stop. He even replies, to a few.

_My favourite colour is gold. I also like blue._

He tells himself that he’s doing this to blend in, nothing more. He tells himself that this isn’t a big deal, that he’d almost certainly never meet them, so he ought to stop feeling what he does when the notes appear.

_Do you have any family?_

_I have an uncle._

And Zuko doesn’t want to say more than that. The boy doesn’t push, either. He’s gotten better at reading deeper meanings, and Zuko is secretly glad. He doesn’t want to lose this boy to the horror that is him.

* * *

Zuko is sure that this is the end. Fire and lightening flash around them, and Sokka crouches next to him, rummaging in his bag for something. Right when Zuko is about to ask, he pulls out a pot of ink, tears the cork out with his teeth and dips his fingers in it.

He writes a single word on his palm.

_Goodbye._

And Zuko watches as the same words paints itself onto his skin. A million things whirl through his mind, and yet he looks at Sokka, and only one word comes to mind.

“You?” They breathe at the same time. They both know what this means. They both know that this is big, a new development, something they never saw coming.

But Zuko has always been impulsive, and on a whim he grips Sokka’s hand tight and pulls him into the fray. For the first time in a long time, Zuko has hope that he may be able to have this after all, and with the hope in their chests, and ink on their palms, they jump into the fight that awaits them.


End file.
